ludja

I was just reading this thread describing pierre45's and John Talbot's dining experience at Spring in Paris. click The chef, Daniel Rose , is an American. How common are American chefs in Paris or for that matter, in other parts of France? In the fine dining area, are they represented at a level similar to that of chefs from other foreign countries? Is being an American chef a plus, a hurdle to overcome or a completely neutral factor in terms of how the public or critics embrace the food or restaurant? Also, do American chefs have any type of perceived style that would be distinquishable from those of French chefs? Thanks, it would be interesting to hear people opinions and experiences.

Honey is a nice flavor to add to grapefruit sorbet. I make a recipe from Bill Neal's "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie" (a great book) that uses about 2 heaping cups of grapefruit supremes, 1/2 cup honey and 1/3-1/2 cup of sugar to taste and 1/2 cup water. I make it with red grapefruits but the recipe suggest yellow as an alternative. It's great with a splash of Campari and/or a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds. I've not tried it, but he recommend chocolate glazed shortbread as a surprisingly good accompaniement. As a grapefruit fan, I've been intrigued by recipes I've seen for grapefruit upside-down cakes. I don't have a particular one to recommend but there are several recipes on the net. I love just eating grapefruit and/or oranges as supremes in their own juice. You can process a pretty large amount this way and they will keep for quite a while refrigerated in their own juice. If you peruse the cocktail forum I think there is a thread on grapefruit cocktails as well. Yellow grapefruits with their often greater acidity as compared to red grapefruits can work very well here. The juice can be frozen as well. I'd also be tempted to make a grapefruit marmalade or try a grapefruit cordial. grapefruit liqueur

Well, this was all on one night although our drinks were spread out quite a bit.... We had reservations for our first visit of the evening. After dinner we went back and checked out the Library which does not require reservations. After the Library we lucked in to being able to make a second visit to the bar as they happened to have some openings at that time. If you want to go there spur of the moment, without reservations, the Library is a nice option. I think it typically gets more crowded as the evening wears on. It's very pretty, and would be great for a drink or two. edited to add: Also note eje's post above re: the Library hours (Wes-Sat, 6 pm- 2 am)

After a great dinner at Canteen, we couldn't resist going back to Bourbon and Branch. We thought it would be fun to check out what the Library looked like and wanted to try more of their creations. The Library also has an interesting decor and was pretty hopping at about 9:30 or so. There are a few seats at the bar; we found one seat at the end and camped out there for a bit. Although it makes sense given the larger ratio of patrons to bartenders in the Library, we hadn't realized that the Library serves a reduced menu. We still "managed" to find two excellent cocktails to sample. Cucumber Gimlet: cucumber-infused gin (don't know the gin), elderflower syrup, orange bitters, champagne, garnish of very thin cucumber slices floating on top Negroni Plymouth gin, Vya red vermouth, Campari The cucumber gimlet was great. I've become a big fan of cucumber in cocktails (everything from a Hendrick's martini garnished with cucumber to a Trader Vic's Suffering Bastard with cucumber and mint garnish). This drink was a tasty and unique addition to the genre. As with the Tanq 10, the sweetness contributed by the elderflower syrup was well balanced with the non-sweet components of the drink so that the effect from the first to the last sip was not at all cloying. We decided to order the Negroni because we like them a lot and also because my friend has experimented in making them at home with different gins and vermouths, etc. (One of his favorite mixes is Plymouth gin, Campari and Punt e Mes) In any case, the B&B version received his full approval and I enjoyed it very much as well. We were interested in tasting a few other drinks we had noticed on the full menu and luckily were able to get another seat at the main bar. Algonquin rye whiskey (not sure what type), pineapple juice and dry vermouth Aviation 209 Gin, Luxardo maraschino, lemon I haven't tinkered with Aviations at home and so far I had only had some uninspired renditions in a couple other bars around town so we were eager to try B8B's version. I knew that there had to be *something* to this drink given the enthusiasm it has engendered in so many. We loved B&B's offering, it was complex and well-balanced. I suspect the choice of gin and the ratio of ingredients are particularly important in making this drink. (No news to anyone here, I'm sure, but this Aviation was so much better than the other ones I've had.) We were intrigued to try the Algonquin because it is a classic drink and we were just interested in how the ingredients would come together. I don't think I've had any other whiskey drink with either dry vermouth or pineapple juice. This is the one drink that I can't remember as well--it may be that my palate was getting tired or just that the combination was different enough that I need to try it again. The drink was definately on the less sweet side; with the pineapple providing just a hint of fruitiness. Well, I'm looking forward to going back there again. The drinks are great as is the atmosphere for enjoying them. I love being able to have a complex tasting cocktail and a good conversation at the same time. One interesting thing that we experienced particularly well here was to notice the evolving taste of the drinks over time. It was akin to the experience of drinking a glass of wine and noticing the changng taste as it 'opens up' through warming and exposure to oxygen. I'm sure this experience was due mainly to the quality and complexity of the drinks, but I think the atmosphere was also important in being able to focus on the taste. We thought the service was warmly professional at the bar and front of house. We ran into Dahl Donnellly, a proprieter of Bourbon and Branch in addition to Swig and Anu, at Swig afterwards. He introduced himself and we had a nice conversation about our experience at Bourbon and Branch. (No more drinks at Swig, we were just checking it out! )

Thanks for checking into this Marco! It's a very tasty cocktail. ... ← Yes, thank you very much! Sorry to have mistakenly added the orange bitters. Looking back at my scribbled notes, I think I mistakenly took my note for the flamed orange peel garnish as one for orange bitters. I'll go back and edit my post.

Here's the link to the article by Russ: click

It made my day when Wolfgang Puck came over to our table at Granita! He had been welcoming celebs at the front door that were part of a Hollywood party that was in a separate part of the restaurant. After they had all arrived he came over to our part of the restaurant and chatted up each table. We even spoke in German for a bit. In SF over the years, I haven't had chefs come to our table that often, but it's always been fine. I've enjoyed it when it happens but can see how it could be awkward in a restaurant in which the food was mediocre. Not applicable to the Granita experience, but when I have had a chance to interact with chefs at a restaurant I appreciate, it's nice to give feedback on great or unique dishes, ingredients or any aspect of the food or service that I particularly enjoyed. In those cases, I am not only truly grateful for their vision and execution and but like to provide positive customer feedback on the things I enjoy in the hope that they will be continued. (To be clear, I enjoyed Granita quite a bit! I just meant that I wasn't telling Wolfgang Puck that I thought he'd hit on something big with the CA pizza angle... )

Ludja, Any idea of the proportions in this drink? Thanks. ← Unfortunately, I don't know. I'm not even sure if this is an older classic cocktail or a newer "classic" invention. I have also had the drink at the San Francisco restaurant, Range, but as I understand it, one of the Range bartenders is working at Bourbon and Branch so it may have been a local "transfer". I can't seem to find much information on it by googling. Perhaps eje has tried his hand at making this cocktail at home? I think he has also sampled it at The Range and at Branch and Bourbon. Without any guidance, I guess I'd start at Negroni 1:1:1 proportions and go from there...

Many thanks for your review, Andy and thanks to eje and Carolyn for bumping it up. I'm glad this thread existed! I had forgotton that I wanted to try Canteen and was recently reminded of that in reading this thread. I think Andy captured so much of what we found wonderful in our first visit there. The interesting and thoughtful selection of dishes on the menu, the impeccable quality of the ingredients and the freshness and quality of preparation all contributed to a superb dining experience. We were there for dinner on Saturday night and ate at the second seating at the counter. The restaurant is very small (~ 24 seats) but we were lucky to get in at the last minute due to an unconfirmed reservation. Although the restaurant is small, the atmosphere was very relaxed with interesting but unobtrusvie music in the background. The reservations were also spaced out nicely so that we did not feel at all rushed. It felt like one was having a perfect, elegant, home-cooked meal prepared by a great chef. These were the dishes we had: Crab and Sole Quenelles with cauliflower puree and red wine butter Quail roasted with lentils, bacon and sherry vinegar syrup Shiitake Mushrooms "en papillote" with curry vinaigrette and mint Goulash: Pork Shoulder and Tenderloin with a sour cream paprika sauce Vanilla Souffle with creme anglaise Each dish had such wonderful, clean, intense flavors it is difficult to pick favorites. I was really impressed with his version of the goulash although it was different than the "traditional" Austrian versions I also enjoy. The dish was lighter in some way but still deeply savory and satisfying. (If there was sour cream added to the sauce as mentioned in the menu description, it was added with a very light touch.) The shiitake mushroom dish was also perfectly balanced in flavor and texture. The dish was comprised of a crispy filo-type pastry envelope filled with meaty mushrooms and flavored with a surprisingly successful combination of curry vinaigrette and mint. The vanilla souffle was perfect as were the two starters. The seafood quenelles and cauliflower puree were presented in an interesting way with alternalting pale pink and ivory 'quenelles' of seafood and cauliflower puree served on a rectangular dish and napped with the red wine butter sauce. They served a nice amuse bouche: Cubes of avocado tossed with pomegranate syrup and cracked black pepper. Oh--and I almost forgot to mention the freshly baked, Parker-style dinner rolls! The texture and buttery flavor were great, and a good accompaniement to the sauces in the various dishes. We each had a glass of Lucien Albrect Gewurztaminer, Alsace, France 2005 with our first course. We shared a half bottle of Olivier Guyot Pinot Noir, Bourgogne, France 2004 with our entrees. The wine list was very interesting and we appreciated the selection of half bottles as our dinner that evening was bookended with delicious cocktails at nearby Bourbon and Branch. I'm eager to go back there and see whatever other dishes Chef Dennis Leary has to offer! edited to add: Here are the other items that were on the menu that day: Sweet onion soup with black trumpet mushrooms Escarole, Quince and Bitter Orange Salad with Manchego White Bass with roasted pepper salad, braised artichokes and spinach Steak Tatare Rhubarb Compote with ginger cream Pear Upside Down Cake Crepe au Chocolat Canteen 817 Sutter St San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 928-8870

I checked out Bourbon and Branch for the first time this past Saturday. We stopped in early before our 7:30 dinner reservations. We thought the decor and atmosphere were great. The design blends elements from the 20's/30's (pressed tin ceiling, red velvet/felt wall paper, dark wood) with modern touches (neat metal barstools (very comfortable), white-washed brick walls behind the bar, candles in niches). The period music was great as well; everything was a nice backdrop for appreciating the drinks and having a conversation. It seems to me that parties of 2-4 would work best here.) We didn't ask our first bartender's name but he did a great job. (He looked a bit like a much better looking, younger Robert Blake... in case someone can add a name... ) I think the other bartender was Todd Smith, the bar manager at B&B, I believe, and formerly of Cortez. They both greeted us warmly and we settled down to have some fun reading the menu. We were pleasantly surprised to get an "amuse drink" while we considered the menu which was a peach bellini variant: sparkling wine and peach. I think they may have used some type of peach cordial as the texture had a great, smooth texture that was more viscous than if peach juice were used. The peach flavor was intense, but balanced, not too sweet and I recall a pleasant slight almond/bitter flavor in there as well. The glassware was very nice for the amuse and for all the other drinks. Another nice touch are the square, linen cocktail napkins that are slightly ruffled about the edges. Our first two drinks were: Elderflower 10: Tanqueray 10, elderflower syrup, lemon juice, and orange bitters (I'm not sure if I'm missing one more ingredient?) 1794: Rittenhouse Rye, Campari, Vya Red vermouth, flamed orange peel garnish They were both excellent. I coudn't read the last ingredient I scribbled down for the Elderflower 10 (if someone knows, I'd appreciate the tip). Somehow this drink reminded me of just a great whiskey sour although it was made with gin. The tart and sweet components were perfectly balanced and the elderflower adds another elusive level of flavor. This is the best sweet and sour drink I've had. I think I read somewhere that this was a signature drink of Todd Smith's at Cortez. The style is so different from the elderflower 10, but the 1794 was another hit. I've had this drink once before at The Range and was again very happy. The dark red color of the drink is striking. It was served in a beautiful small V-shaped glass. The flavors were so intense, but again, well balanced. As a big fan of Manhattans, Sazeracs and Negroni's this was right up my alley. I will definately be adding this to my home cocktail repertoire. I suspect that using Vya vermouth would could make a big difference. We split a third cocktail before dinner: Dempsey: 209 gin, calvados, pastis, grenadine My friend and I disagreed a bit on this drink in that I found it less complex and balanced. For me, the pastis element was too overpowering. I like black licorice as a flavor element but don't ususally drink Pastis on its own so this may have been a personal bias on my part. Perhaps someone that drinks Pastis alone would pick up on the additional flavors in this cocktail. I asked our bartender about the grendadine as I don't think of grenadine adding much in terms of flavor to a drink and it didn't seem likely they would add something just for the color. I didn't catch all he said, but I understood that they actually make their own grenadine from pomegranates. We left at about 7:15 for dinner but we actually came back to try some more drinks later on. More, in a later post. edited to remove inadvertant addition of orange bitters to the 1794 ingredient list.

Great post, I had enjoyed the wonderful weather the last few days and was mentally pouting a bit seeing the forecast for the next week. I *knew* we needed the rain and am now even happier that it will help the grapes!

Some good friends made a lovely winter salad with celery for us this weekend: escarole, walnuts, and sliced celery with a walnut oil/wine vinegar vinaigrette. They used a blend of walnut oil (La Tourangelle's, a great California product), mild olive oil and canola oil. Celery and walnuts are a very fine combination!

Ti Couz in the Mission district is a nice Breton creperie. (3108 16th St) Shalimar in the Tenderloin/Theater district or on Polk St for Indian food. (1409 Polk St or 532 Jones St.) Saigon Sandwiches for sardine banh mi sandwiches I can't remember if they also have tofu versions. (560 Larkin St) For sushi, I like Ryoko's, west of Union Sq. (619 Taylor) Another good place to look on eGullet is Caroyln Tillie's thread for dining near Japantown and other parts of the city. In general, your friend may be interested in checking out Japantown. I don't have any specific recommendations there. Some other dependable favorites: Marnee Thai (in the Sunset( and Brandy Ho's Hunan Restaurant in North Beach (I order a lot of meat and shellfish dishes at these places but there are plenty of other dishes as well.) Will your friend have a car? The rec's I gave above are all over the city. It might be easier to give more meaningful recommendations knowing what part of the city he'll be in and if he'll be willing to travel around a bit.

I don't want to derail this thread from the topic of sugar and HFCS. This is a large topic that merits its own thread. However, I recently finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and reading the quote above, I would like to offer the suggestion that if anyone is even peripherally interested in this larger topic or aspects of it, that they do themselves a favor, and read Pollan's book for themselves. That is, I think it is worth reading the “primary source” in this case in addition to reading reviews or individual interpretations and opinions of it. Personally after reading the book, I genuinely don't find myself reducing it, or even the author's potential intent, to a simple take home message or moral prescription. Much of the content was fascinating to me and I enjoyed Pollan's writing, but more interestingly, I enjoyed the challenge of the new thoughts and further questions it provoked in me as a response. I am a big reader, but it is still exhilarating and newly rewarding to be surprised into thinking more deeply than one expects and in unexpected directions after reading a particular piece of writing. (I was a bit surprised at my response since I had previously read a bunch of Pollan's articles, heard him on National Public Radio and listened to discussion of his work, here and elsewhere. Many of the extra ideas and richness of thought I found in the book are more nuanced than I expected and I think, at one level, depend on reading and considering the whole book. Nevertheless, I did find a short quote I enjoyed and that I added to my signature line...)

I think this can be a good compromise (on not even a compromise) depending if you can achieve the final potato salad or cole slaw that you like. At my Mom's local supermarket, for instance, their coleslaw can "work" for us by adding more vinegar or lemon and adjusting with salt, pepper, sugar or mayo/sour cream/yogurt if it's a creamy version. I've personally found it more difficult to "fix" potato salads, mainly due to the texture and size of the potato slices that I like, but it really depends on the final result that one is looking for. I really like chopped parsley and some chopped onion in my potato salad so this might be another ingredient I might try adding. But... I usually ike my own homemade potato salads so much better than commercial ones that I would rather make it myself or substitute with another dish if I don't have the time to make it. I *do* like different types of slaw and potato salads, but there are also so many purchased or commerical ones nowadays that I definately don't like! It's so interesting how people's tastes, including my own, can be so specfic in certain aspect of taste and texture for these ostensibly simple dishes. In any case, although I'm 'butting in' to a Pennsylvania thread, I just wanted to echo tafkap4d's general thoughts re: the doctoring option. It also sounds like you're getting some good local suggestions for purchased salads to check out and ultimately compare wth your own taste!

I haven't made a vegetable stock that focuses on peelings so I can't answer your primary question perhaps. I've heard many times that using cruciferous vegetables will add an overpowering, bitter? note. So, usually veg stock recipes recommend not using broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, etc. I think I'd avoid bell peppers in the base stock recipe as well. I also avoid adding too many carrots as that makes the stock too sweet for my taste. The only vegetables that I use the "top" of are leeks, celery, fennel (if I want to add an anise flavor note). Other typically "discarded" parts of vegetables I'll use are corn cobs, if making a corn stock and parsley stems. I've not noticed any problem with using celery leaves although maybe there is a point where too many would add an unbalanced note. I don't use carrot peels alone because I think they can have a bitter flavor depending on the age, etc of the carrot. Perhaps this is not noticeable if one uses the whole carrot, but I haven't thought of just using the peels and I wouldn't use the "grassy-tasting" top as mentioned above. When I have all the ingredients and want to make a very good, full-flavored vegetable stock I use this recipe from Annie Somerville in Field of Greens: click The ingredients are: 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced 1 leek top, washed and coarsely chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed in their skin 1 teaspoon salt 2 carrots, coarsely chopped 1 potato, sliced 1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced 2 celery ribs, sliced 6 fresh parsley sprigs, chopped 6 fresh thyme sprigs 2 fresh oregano sprigs 3 fresh sage leaves (I don't always add these) 2 dried bay leaves 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns 9 cups cold water Simmering an hour is long enough to extract the flavors and I do remove the vegetables as she recommend by straining and pressing the vegetables against the sieve. I use this recipe as a basic template; the potate adds some nice body. I'll sometimes make a variant that includes tomato and/or fennel tops and/or the outer layers of the bulb. Some other spice flavorings to think of depending on the stocks eventual use are star anise or lemongrass. Annie Somerville has two other great vegetable stocks in the book: a mushroom stock and a corn stock. I've also made many of the recipes in the chapter on soups and have been happy with all of them. By the way, welcome to eGullet, Will!

The chickpeas don't sound so strange to me anymore. Recently, someone on eGullet mentioned that they sometimes make tunafish with them. I tried it the other day and I love it! For the tuna I used a mix of mayonnaise, lemon, salt, pepper and chickpeas. I ate it on toasted rye and really like both the taste and texture. Thanks for mentioning this sandwich with the salt cod and tapanade.

Growing up in New England, one of Dad's favorite dishes is codfish cakes served with Boston baked beans. I'm trying to remember what we had with the codfish cakes; I think tartar sauce or lemon. Another old New England dish is codfish hash served wth a fried egg on top and bacon on the side. This is good for breakfast or anytime of day.

Remember, it's completely okay to eat tortes or cakes for breakfast. Well, it is in our household anyway and that includes whipped cream! A nice Kleiner Brauner* or Kapuziner* alongside balances the sweetness. Looking forward to another great blog; good luck juggling everything with work. *Kleiner Brauner = Viennese speak for a demitasse of espresso with a dash of milk *Kapuziner = Viennese speak for a strong dark coffee with enough milk added to match the robe color of the Capuchin Monks ← Excellent tips, Ludja...after looking over the Cafe Sabarsky menu, is there a particular torte or cake you'd recommend? ← I've only eaten there three times at lunch and have always ended up ordering a torte special. These have always been very good; I think two of the times the torte was a type of Kastanientorte (Chestnut Torte). Despite my teasing to order a torte, if you want a less desserty-type thing for breakfast with coffee the Gugelhupf or Topfentorte might be nice. Well, I just remember you're likely familiar with the Alsation version of Gugelhupf (a typically yeast-raised coffee cake)! Topfentorte uses a fresh German/Austrian cheese called "Quark" in German-German. Desserts made with Topfen/Quark are often less dense and sweet compared to American cheesecake type recipes. I love both types of cheesecake and ricotta-based ones as well... They list and describe some tortes I don't recognize by name but that seem quite Viennese classcial in concept and flavor. It's all to one's taste but if I was ordering a torte, I'd be tempted by the Adeletorte with apricot mousse, the Klimt torte with chocolate and hazelnut or the Sabarskytorte with chocolate and rum. I tend to be wary ordering Apple Strudel or Hotel Sachertorte over here, but I'd hope that Cafe Sabarsky would do them well. Apple Strudel *is* nice at breakfast and with coffee. Have fun choosing what strikes your fancy that day! --- Coleslaw is so great on bbq sandwiches. I never really encounterd it before I went to North Carolina where it is a classic served on a soft bun with NC pork bbq. Your chicken bbq-coleslaw sandwich looks mighty fine though!

and rosemary maple syrup... Sounds great. I'm also lusting after the garlic gnocchi and crispy sweetbread dish from The Modern! I hope you got to watch Gilmore Girls tonight, Megan and fill us in on the food. I may miss part of the show tonight. (Here's a thread where some of us Gilmore Girls fans note the epicurean references in different episodes. The writers/producers must be seriously into food.) Hope you feel better!

I agree; this is a great help at both the front and back end of making the dish. I also really like a feature that snowangel mentioned in the first post and that is a listing of all the recipes at the beginning of each chapter. I like a detailed and comprehensive index as well that cross references by key ingredients and type of dish, etc. and by the English and if appropriate, non-English name. I also appreciate if the index includes references to people or restaurants that are mentioned in the text. (I just noticed srhcb's post! I guess I'd rather visually "weed out" extra indexing that I don't need at a given time rather than not have it when I need it.) For cookbooks on regional or traditional dishes I *really* appreciate suggestions for sidedishes or for how the dish would fit in a typical meal in current times and/or historically. I feel this is important background information for a dish. Other background information I like to have is the region of origin or popularity. For these types of books (as opposed to a general or restaurant cookbooks), I also really value a bibliography. For cookbooks on food from non-English speaking countries it really peeves me if the recipe does not include the name of the dish in the originating langugage. Aesthetically I like to know the original name of the dish and it also clears up any potential confusiion arising from different and frequently unwieldy English translations of the name.

I think one of the reasons, but not all, that this attitude exists is as a result of the marketing machine. Getting people to feel that they are superior, more "virtuous" or at the very least better informed merely as a result of purchasing something is a powerful marketing lever.

It is getting close to V-day... I had a potential idea for a seafood dish. Somehow I was picturing a combination of polenta, dark chocolate and shrimp. I think that the corn component, in the form of polenta/cornmeal and butter might work well with both shrimp and with chocolate and could serve as a sort of linking flavor bridge. Specifically, I was thinking of rounds of firmed-up polenta browned in butter. Make a polenta sandwich using two rounds and dark chocolate in the middle. Serve with sauteed shrimp. I guess one question would be if and how to season the shrimp beyond salt and pepper--even something simple like parsely or garlic might not work, but perhaps just butter and salt and pepper would be sufficient. Another alternative to pan-fried polenta cakes would be non-sweet or very slightly sweetened cornmeal pancakes/blinis... The chocolate/tarragon/scallop dish sounds interesting as well.

For some inspiration you may want to check this link to vegetarian curries. Someone recently posted this on another thread and it looks like a great resource. (Scroll down to see entire recipe listing.)

I was checking if another restaurant I like might cater and came across this article (from 2002) that may be useful. It's from an article in La Cocinita Magazine and gives an extensvie list of caterers in Abq and Santa Fe. click Unlike Artichoke Cafe and Rudys' I don't have any personal experience with any of these. The article has descriptions for each and weblinks. Maybe others can offer comments.